Opinion: 7 Conclusions from the Presidential Elections

Jonathan has always come off as an unassuming politician whose career has largely been a result of being in the right place at the right time. His political moves in the past year have revealed the touch of an astute politician.

For starters, he beat Atiku (in a landslide victory) to the PDP nomination despite Atiku’s endorsement as the Northern consensus candidate by the Ciroma Committee. Yet, unconfirmed accounts that he convinced the ACN to support him over its own political candidate in exchange for Tinubu’s nomination of some key governmental positions may prove to be his masterstroke.

2. ACN has shot itself in the foot

The ACN might have won some appointments in their purported deal with GEJ, but the party is definitely the loser in the long run. A party that supports the presidential candidate of another party (over its own candidate) shows that it has no real ambitions or hopes of winning a national election. Furthermore, ACN has revealed what we all suspected-their opposition to PDP isn’t based on ideology but on competition for office and a share of the national cake. The Fashola 2015 dream is unlikely to materialize.

3. Buhari will never be a democratically elected President

Buhari turned out to be Jonathan’s closest contender, but those who raised questions over his fundamentalist platform have been proven right. His supporters have broken out in riots in the North, attacking non-Muslims in Kano and chanting “Buhari mu ke so, ba mu so hanni” meaning “Buhari is who we want, we don’t want an unbeliever”. He won’t be winning any states outside the North anytime soon.

4. The division along religious/ethnic lines is not yet a thing of the past

The map below says it all.

5. PDP has skillfully legitimized itself

Jega and Jonathan have been widely credited with a free and fair election. Yet no one seems to realize that the PDP has performed an act of transformation here. Pre-election, the PDP was widely denounced as the enemy of democracy in Nigeria. By clearlthese free and fair elections, the PDP has legitimized the support it won with government patronage and past years of ballot-box stuffing.

6. Rigging is not extinct

We have heard reports of cases of ballot snatching and stuffing, and voter intimidation. If you are not convinced, watch this video

7. Nigeria may “hopefully” change for the better in the next four years

It’s a sobering thought. PDP has retained control of the National Assembly and the presidency. They probably would not get a majority of governors, but given the influence the Federal Government wields, hopes of substantial change are exactly that…”hopes.”